Winding-indicator for timepieces.



0. OHLSON.

WINDING INDICATOR FOR TIMEPIECES. APPLIUATION FILED od'm, 1910.

1,038,634, v Patented sept. 17,1912.

? [j] 0 @om ,59%0 #mega "PArnnr OFFICE.

OLOF OHIJS'ON, Ol? NEWTON, `MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORTO WALTHA'M WATCH COM- PANY, OF 4'W'.ALTHAM, 'MASSACHUSETTQ vA CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

WINDING-NDICATOR FOR TIMEPIECES.

acess-,eeft

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application ledctober 6, 1910. Serial No. 585,581.

'Patented sept. 17, 1912.

other aelement by which the mainspring is wound, turn in the same directionof rotation without requiring the interposition of devices for :producing a reversal in the direction of movement of the indicator when the vspring is being wound up and is running down, respectively.

A secondary and equally important lob- 1 ject from a -fpractieal point lof view, is to simplify the indicator to the last possible 1degree `and lreduce the number of its parts to the flowest terms, whereby l-itfmay -be `made at slight cost and applied'to any watch or clock movement oftheA character above indicated -without necessitating material modiiication of .any ofthe :parts of the movement.

Stated 2in other words, :my y'obj ect :has vbeen to make an indicator in which the yparts corresponding or equivalent to a pointer and dialf-are :both im'ovable finthe same direction, one of them being -moved when the spring 'iswound up, and the other by the mainwheel while the spring is running down.

The manner in which the invention has 'beencarnied into eiect is described in detail inl the Yfollowing specification and illustratcd in the accompanying drawings, in which, l Figure 1 represents a'face view of a watch A'or -clock Ishovvfin'g'the'interior through 4-an opening .in the dial thereof. Fig. 2 is'a sectional view of the lmovement of the time ipi'ece taken on'the line 2-2 of Fig. A1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the interior showing the 'meansby which the same is actuated when thefspring is lwound up, the dial of the time lpfiece having been removed. Fig. 4 is an under plan view of the parts 'which actu- 'ate the interior when lthe time piece is runming down. Fig. 5 is a -plan view of one of lthe members or -disks composing the interior.

In -,the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1, the indicator is represented as being visible through an openingl in the dial 2 of the timepiece. 'Ihe indicator consists of two plates or disks 3 and t respectively, one of which, as 3, lcorresponds to a pointer, and the other, as 4, corresponds to a dial. The pointer member 3 has an opening 5 through which a portion of the latter may be provided with indications or symbols of any desired character such as numbers indicating hours or days, but as here shown is a patch or spot 6 shown in Fig.5 =of-a color contrasting markedly from that of :the major portion of the disk, and` contrastingalso with the color of the face of the index disk 3. The manner in which the colored lpatch or spot is arranged with revwhen the color -is seen through the opening the possessor of the time piece realizes that the necessity for winding is near, and when no color appears through the` opening, or a color of dierent character appears, he is assured that veither the spring is fully wound, or winding will not be necessary for some time at least.

The manner in which the members of the indicator are operated is as followsz-The disk 3 is rigidly secured upon a staff or arbor 7, which also carries rigidly iiXed upon it toothed wheel 8. The disk et lis loosely mounted on the arbor 7 and is provided at its periphery with notches 9 by means of which the disk is turned when the spring mainspring arbor carries one or more'pins arranged as to enter vsuccessive notches of the disk 4 when the spring is wound, turning said disk. Connected to the main wheel 12 of the movement of the timepiece is an arm .18 which -is so arranged as to engage Vat cach .revolution with the teeth of the wheel 8 and -turn the latter with the arbor 7 and disk 3 united thereto. In the embodiment of the invention here shown, the arm and conveniently at its opposite end, a

is wound.4 The winding wh'eel 10 of the .face ofthe dial member 4 maybe seen. The

spect to the index opening 5 is such that 11 (two being shown here) which are so 13 is formed upon a split collar 14 which surrounds andgrasps frictionally an annular rib 15 projecting from the under side of the main Wheel and surrounding the main Wheel arbor 16. The under edge of the annular rib is made to overlap the collar 14 somewhat, to prevent the latter from falling od.

The main Wheel arbor and the Winding Wheel or ratchet represented herein are ot one of the standard and Well-known forms, 'the main Wheel being arranged to rotate upon the arbor and having a hub 17-carrying a collar 18 to Which one end of the main spring 19 is hooked. The other or outer end of the main spring is caught over a hook formed on the side of the main i, spring barrel 20, which latter is engaged non-rotatively With thev arbor 16. The Winding Wheel or ratchet 10 is also nonrotatively engaged with the arbor and is held from rotation, except in a direction necessary to Wind the spring, by the usual click, not shown.

rllhe arbor 7 carrying the indicator and its actuating Wheel 8 is journaled in the top and bottom plates 21, 22 ot the movement, the index disks lying upon the upper side of the top plate and the actuating Wheel 8 being in a recess in the upper side of the 'bottom plate. The numeral 23 in Fig. 3

designates the back of the timepiece and 24 the crystal.

The manner in which the indicator acts is as follows: Supposing that the timepiecel has run down. The colored patchv 6 is then visible through theindex aperture 5. ylUpon winding up the spring the disk 6 is turned step by step by repeated impacts ot the pins 11 until the colored part has been moved away from beneath the aper ture. As the movement runs down'the arm or arms 13 carried by the main Wheel ro tate the Wheel 8 step by step and move t-he disk 3 correspondingly in the same direc-4 tion until finally its aperture again uncovers and exposes the colored spot.

The numberof pins 11, of arms 13, and of teeth and notches in the peripheries of the disks 4 and 8 may be made anything required to give the results desired, Whether to indicate a running down of the timepiece every twenty-:tour hours, or after any predetermined number of days. The timepiece herein illustrated is an 8-day watch or small clock, and is so proportioned that v the indicator shows the color under the aperture 5 when the watch \has run eight days. It is obvious, however, that changes in the number of pins, arms and teeth, and in the diameters ot the toothed disks may be made of any character necessary to secure other results, Without departing from the spirit of the invention.'

incense displacement by any suitable means such as a spring or spring pavvl 25 Which is suiiiciently yielding to enable the disk to be turned by the pins 11. Similarly the Wheel 8 is yieldingly'retained by the springpavvl 26. Prevention of relative rotation between the disk 3 and Wheel 8 at opposite ends of the arbor 7 is secured by the manner in which the disk is detachably connected With the arbor, the end of which is non-circular and enters a correspondingly shaped hole in the disk, being secured therein by a screw 27, as shovvn in F ig. 2. Detachment of this disk is necessary in order to enable the parts to be assembled in the Watch or clock movement, and removed. rlhe toothed Wheel 8, however, is `permanently fixed upon the arbor.

rllhe disks 3 and 4 which form the telltale members of the indicator, one of them having an aperture and the other a colored patch, constitute one special form of the common pointer and dial indicator. @bviously there would be no departure from the spirit oit the invention if a pointer Were substituted for the disk 3 with its aperture,

and a graduated, numbered or lettered dial for the disk 4'. lit would also be no departure from the spirit of the invention to reverse the relative arrangement of the disks 3 and 4 as to their modeofl drive, having the disk 4 xed upon' the arbor Y and driven by the main Wheel, and the disk 3 loose on said arbor and driven by the Winding Wheel' 10. 1 consider, therefore, that such possible modifications are Within the spirit and scope of my invention, and are covered by such of the claims which follow as do not specify the particular form and arrangement hereinbefore described and illustrated.

1. A time piece comprising an arbor, a pointer disk fast on one end thereof and provided Withv a sight opening, an indicator Idisk loose on the arbor and provided f with indicating means .adapted to be displayed through the ointer disk opening, said indicator disk Ibeing provided with peripheral teeth, a toothedy wheel fast on the opposite end of the arbor, a Winding Wheel provided With lugs Itor engaging the teeth of the indicator disk to intermittently rotate said disk, and a main Wheel provided vvith arms for engaging the teeth ot the toothed Wheel to intermittently the arbor.

rotate 2. The combination in a time piece, of a movement therefor including a main arbor, a Winding Wheel carried thereby, a main' wheel on the arbor and provided with a pendent annular rib, a split collar seated onV said rib and provided with an outwardly projecting arm, and a vrinding indicator In testimony whereof I have aixedl my comprising a supporting arbor, an indicator signature, in presence of two Witnesses. member fast thereon a second indicator Y memberloose on the supporting arbor and OLOF OHLSON'V intermittently rotated by a winding Wheel, Witnesses:

and a Wheel fast on the supporting arbor` E. A. MARSH,

Vand intermittently rotated by the said arm.k CoNovER FITCH. 

